Our financial system is crumbling this week.

[sighyoung]

Of 100 students that enter college, this is what happens to them after 6 years:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sp ... s-college/
21 drop out
30 get a batchelor's degree
14 get an associates degree
35 of them are still enrolled

That's insane. I recall a lot of people taking 5 years to graduate...but 1/3 of college students are taking over 6 years to graduate? I wonder if this is worse because there job market it bad. But just kind of ridiculous.

With three sons in this demographic it appears to me to be the job market. Lots of their friends and them looking around and not seeing the opportunities so they get another major, look at grad schools, take a few more courses, etc. I worry about this generation because of this.

Those numbers sound accurate. I went to a university where you typically graduated in four or five years, but where I teach, it's a different story. Ten years ago, my university had a poor graduate rate of approximately 32% in six years. Now we're up to 52% in six years--both a remarkable improvement and a mediocre result.

State and federal support for higher education is much lower now than it was thirty years ago, and the prices of higher education keep going up. Heck, in California in the 60's, you could get a college education for free (I'm sure you had to buy the books, though). The days of the Sputnik scare and the Cold War are long gone.

I've looked up retention and graduation rates for numerous colleges and universities as my son applies for college. In some cases, the numbers are atrocious, and I wouldn't let my son apply if he were interested in the schools. Debt loads for students emerging from some of these schools (such as NYU) are also mind-boggling.

[pioneer98]

The new $1.1 trillion spending bill rolls back part of Dodd-Frank:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/14/us/po ... share&_r=0

The government spending bill, with its rollback of some provisions of the Dodd-Frank law, would let big banks trade in certain risky financial instruments while having access to federal assistance if something goes wrong.

[Jocephus]

Transmission third world war third round
A decade of the weapon of sound above ground
No shelter if you're lookin' for shade
I lick shots at the brutal charade
As the polls close like a casket
On truth devoured
A Silent play in the shadow of power
A spectacle monopolized
The camera's eyes on choice disguised
Was it cast for the mass who burn and toil?
Or for the vultures who thirst for blood and oil?
Yes a spectacle monopolized
They hold the reins and stole your eyes
Or the fistagons
The bullets and bombs
Who stuff the banks
Who staff the party ranks
More for Gore or the son of a drug lord
None of the above [expletive] it cut the cord

[IMADreamer]

The new $1.1 trillion spending bill rolls back part of Dodd-Frank:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/14/us/po ... share&_r=0

The government spending bill, with its rollback of some provisions of the Dodd-Frank law, would let big banks trade in certain risky financial instruments while having access to federal assistance if something goes wrong.

This is the stuff I can't believe people don't riot in the streets over. The deck is completely stacked in favor of the wealthy and how the average person doesn't see that is beyond me. This bill just means there's another crash and bail out coming to stock market near you.

[pioneer98]

If we have another financial crisis, it will be the fault of lazy, poor people who didn't pay their bills, and not because we are letting Wall Street play with house money all day.

I guess I wouldn't rule out more problems in mortgage derivatives, but my guess is the next financial crisis will be in some other sector. Maybe energy or something. We have derivatives on everything now.

[IMADreamer]

I'm hearing all kinds of young people complaining about student loans. I could see us shoveling a bunch of money to the banks for debt forgiveness. That one will piss me off to no end. At the banks, and the morons who took out six figure loans to get degrees in social work.

[Molly]

The new $1.1 trillion spending bill rolls back part of Dodd-Frank:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/14/us/po ... share&_r=0

The government spending bill, with its rollback of some provisions of the Dodd-Frank law, would let big banks trade in certain risky financial instruments while having access to federal assistance if something goes wrong.

There is also a provision that would reduce the pension amounts for certain retirees. But hey, have to take care of Wall Street right!

[pioneer98]

I'm hearing all kinds of young people complaining about student loans. I could see us shoveling a bunch of money to the banks for debt forgiveness. That one will piss me off to no end. At the banks, and the morons who took out six figure loans to get degrees in social work.

I agree there are lots of people who took on huge loans without a good plan to pay them back....But there are plenty of people who went to get a degree in a higher-paying field that just can't find a job. It's not their fault the economy sucks, or that the cost of college is skyrocketing. It's also not their fault society decided everyone needed a college degree in order to get a decent job. That's a new thing just within the past 30 years or so.

[IMADreamer]

I'm hearing all kinds of young people complaining about student loans. I could see us shoveling a bunch of money to the banks for debt forgiveness. That one will piss me off to no end. At the banks, and the morons who took out six figure loans to get degrees in social work.

I agree there are lots of people who took on huge loans without a good plan to pay them back....But there are plenty of people who went to get a degree in a higher-paying field that just can't find a job. It's not their fault the economy sucks, or that the cost of college is skyrocketing. It's also not their fault society decided everyone needed a college degree in order to get a decent job. That's a new thing just within the past 30 years or so.

I think the solution is to create jobs, not hand out money to the banks. We could have a new CCC, WPA, or something along those lines for these grads that want to work off their student loans.

[cardsfantx]

I'm confused IMA....

you rip on the wealthy, and how they should all be burned at the stake.....and then turn around and complain about people without money, that need a student loan to put themselves through college.